Welcome to the Conservation Finance Guide. The overall goal is to provide practical tools to support the rapid expansion of sustainable finance mechanisms that generate long-term funding for biodiversity conservation.
Welcome to the Conservation Finance Guide. The overall goal is to provide practical tools to support the rapid expansion of sustainable finance mechanisms that generate long-term funding for biodiversity conservation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
To navigate directly to a Category of Finance Mechanisms within Return-Based Investments:
Return-based investments for nature include a range of finance strategies and mechanisms that seek both positive environmental impacts as well as financial returns to a business owner or investor. Investments are defined as: “the outlay of money usually for income or profit” (Merriam-Webster, accessed Jan 10th, 2020). In conservation finance terms, there are multiple elements that could make financial investments either beneficial or detrimental for conservation. Investments that are detrimental to nature are potential targets for finance strategies that reduce harmful impacts or decrease harmful investments. While return based investments are often associated with for-profit enterprises, NGOs and other non-profits, including The Nature Conservancy, can and have executed return based investments. The Nature Conservancy released an in-depth report in 2019 summarizing potential opportunities for private investment in natural capital, and found rapidly growing interest in prioritizing natural capital on the part of investors (Cooper and Trémolet, 2019).
These strategies and mechanisms can be divided in a number of ways, including private vs capital markets, impact vs finance priorities, investment size (microfinance through large sovereign bonds), and debt/loan-based products vs equity and ownership-based approaches (Forest Trends, 2016, Cooper and Trémolet, 2019). Many of these categories are overlapping and non-exclusive; for example, many types of investors use a combination of debt and equity instruments to achieve their investment goals. The following categories seek to capture and describe some of this variation (adapted from Credit Suisse, 2016).
To navigate directly to a Class of Finance Mechanisms
______________________________________________________________
Microfinance seeks to “provide financial services to households and micro-enterprises that are excluded from traditional commercial banking services.” (The World Bank, 2015). Often the beneficiaries of microfinance do not have assets or credit that allows access to traditional capital such as bank loans. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are extremely diverse and include specialized organizations targeting agriculture, small enterprise development, or other specific areas. MFIs can be arms of larger banks, non-profit organizations, and even village based cooperatives. A successful microfinance model should address all three “sustainability criteria”; financial, social and environmental. One example of a reportedly successful microfinance model is the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) model which has been applied to support development in varying social and environmental contexts in Tanzania. Another example is the CAMBio project that has financed SMEs to integrate conservation of biodiversity into their business, products and services in 5 Central American countries (Forcella and Lucheschi, 2016)
Green Microfinance
Microfinance programmes that integrate green or environmental principles, criteria and/or assessments into lending policies. Criteria can include sustainable agricultural practices (e.g. organic agriculture) and measurement of environmental benefits associated with the economic activities.
Case Study: The Energy Links Project was a three-year pilot by the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, financed by USAID’s Microenterprise Development Office and the Wallace Global Fund. Energy Link’s aim was to determine how the established microfinance sector in African countries can alleviate energy poverty by increasing access to small-scale clean energy solutions at the household level. Read more about the Energy Links Project here.
Community Finance
Community finance-often considered part of microfinance-is of particular relevance for the communities living in or in the proximity of protected areas, including indigenous communities. Financial providers have a stated mission to deliver financial solutions for people in a defined community. Lending practices include community revolving funds and credit unions. The community itself is often the main shareholder of those institutions and can be the sole source of capital such as in village savings and loans.
Case Study: Microsfere is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the livelihoods of rural people living around areas that are protected for their ecological value in developing countries, and notably in West Africa. Their first two projects are in Ghana, in the Kakum National Park and the Amansuri Wetland. One of the principle measures implemented by Microsfere is Social Microfinance. Read more about Microsfere here.
Best Practices and Resources:
Good Practice Guidelines for Funders of Microfinance: Microfinance Consensus Guidelines (2006), Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
Best Practices in Mobile Microfinance (2013), Grameen Foundation
European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision (Update) (2020), European Commission; Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Green Microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Analysis of Opportunities (2017), Inter-American Development Bank
Key Microfinance Institutions:
Grameen Bank: Founded in Bangladesh in 1983, Grameen Bank holds the distinction of being a Nobel Peace Prize-winning MFI. As of 2020, Grameen Bank has more than nine million borrowers and a loan portfolio in excess of $20 billion.
51Give: 51Give provides microfinance solution services for other MFIs. As of 2020, 51Give’s platform was being used by more than 100 charitable organizations.
FInDev Gateway: FinDev Gateway is CGAP’s independent knowledge platform where the global financial inclusion community comes together to share the latest research, lessons and ideas on making financial services work for disadvantaged individuals.
Examples of MFIs in Conservation Finance
Microsfere: Microsfere aims at combining biodiversity conservation and rural development in areas protected for their ecological value in West Africa.
___
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Investing and Crowdfunding facilitates direct financial investments among individuals or organizations bypassing traditional financial institutions. Peer-to-Peer can be described as formal and informal financial transfers between and within countries that are targeted for sustainable development. Peer-to-Peer transactions are generally technology-based transfers between individuals and one form, “P2P lending” can be defined as: “the borrowing and lending of money between individuals or businesses, usually through the medium of online services, without a bank or other official financial institution acting as an intermediary.” (Lexico, Accessed January 10th, 2020). Crowdfunding involves sourcing small donations or investments from a large number of people (the crowd) and is a form of P2P investing. Some for-profit P2P investing platforms include Lending Club, Upstart and Funding Circle. Well-known actors in the non-profit area include Kiva, Kickstarter, and Go Fund Me. In the realm of conservation finance, a good example is WWF Hong Kong’s crowdfunding page. Where the entire objective of the P2P or crowdfunding is in the form of a gift or donation, this mechanism would fit into the “Grants and other Transfers” category although it is included in the taxonomy in this section. Another example of crowdfunding for conservation is the Palau National Marine Sanctuary supported by the “Stand with Palau” crowdfunding campaign. In 2014, the campaign raised $53,000 from more than 400 donors to support the Marine Sanctuary’s implementation.
Crowdfunding
The practice of securing funding for a project or business venture by a dispersed group of people: the crowd. It takes places via online platforms that connect the investor or the donor with the project owner without the intermediation of a financial organization. Different platforms coexist: reward-based where individuals support campaigns and receive some kind of reward in return; donation-based where there is no expectation to receive a tangible benefit; equity-based where individuals invest and receive equity-like shares in return; and lending-based where individuals lend money and expect the repayment of a principal with or without interest.
Many crowdfunding websites provide a platform to crowdfund for biodiversity conservation, with thousands of US$ raised for a variety of projects both terrestrial and marine. Chuffed is just one of many examples.
Best Practices and Resources:
Crowdfunding for Nonprofits – National Council of Nonprofits
Five Best Practice in Nonprofit Crowdfunding – Beth Kanter
Crowdfunding for Social Good: Financing Your Mark on the World – Devin D. Thorpe
P2P Lending Best Practices 2016 – An Investor’s Guide
The Fintech Edge, First Edition: Peer-to-Peer Lending – KPMG
Key P2P Lending and Crowdfunding Institutions:
Kiva: Kiva is a USA-based 501 non-profit organization that allows people to lend money via an online platform to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 77 countries. Since 2005. Kiva has crowd-funded more than 1.6 million loans, totaling over $1.33 billion, with a repayment rate of 95.8 percent. Lenders do not receive interest on the money they lend.
Chuffed: Chuffed is a crowdfunding platform for socially conscious projects. Chuffed supports individuals, not-for-profits, social enterprises and community groups. Individuals can choose to support projects that align with a variety of social causes including Environment and Social Enterprise.
Indiegogo: Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding site founded in 2008. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. The site runs on a rewards-based system, meaning donors, investors, or customers who are willing to help fund a project or product can donate and receive a gift. From 2016 onwards, Indiegogo offers equity-based campaigns, allowing accredited investors to participate with equity stakes. Indiegogo has an Environment category that includes Aquaculture and ecotourism projects around the world.
Examples of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Crowdfunding in Conservation Finance:
UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Covid19 Crowdfunding: UNDP through its BIOFIN project, in partnership with the Alternative Finance Lab, is contributing towards short-term efforts to alleviate the acute lack of financial resources through the launch of crowdfunding campaigns in selected countries.
______________________________________________________________
This category covers a wide range of funding and support options for early stage companies and projects. This early stage funding includes a range of means for financing “startup” or young companies and can include support ranging from subsidized working space, mentoring, grants, fellowships, through debt and equity financing as described elsewhere. Angel investing refers to private, mostly equity investments in early stage companies done by “angel investors” who tend to be high net worth individuals who are not professional investors. Angel investors often work within networks of investors to identify and co-invest in young companies. Incubators are defined as a “facility established to nurture young (startup) firms during their early months or years. It usually provides affordable space, shared offices and services, hands-on management training, marketing support and, often, access to some form of financing.” (BusinessDictionary.com, accessed November 16th, 2019). One example of an incubator for conservation is CFA’s recently announced virtual incubator for conservation finance which provides mentorship and grant funding. Another example is the partnership between The Nature Conservancy and Techstars Sustainability Accelerator.
Venture Capital (VC) is a formal investment approach for young business that involve professional investors – venture capitalists – often working through a team or a VC Firm, that make strategic investments in startup companies. There are a growing number of VC firms with an interest in sustainability but very few that are focused on nature (Conservation International, accessed January 10th, 2020). Typical VC firms seek very high returns and will accept a high level of risk to achieve strong returns. They are most commonly focused on technology or other types of companies that can provide the rapid growth needed for a high return on investment. Nature based companies that focus on sustainability may find it difficult to identify business opportunities that produce the level of rapid growth needed to satisfy the target returns of traditional VCs. While not taking a traditional VC investment approach which is mainly equity-based, Conservation International Ventures, CI Ventures LLC, is an example of an investment fund that finances early stage conservation ventures. Other funds that are less directly involved in conservation (including many sustainability focused VC funds) can be highly relevant to conservation by investing in technologies that can be used for conservation activities or may reduce environmental impacts.
Biodiversity Business Incubator
Business incubators are institutions that provide technical or financial services to strengthen startups and early stage enterprises. Incubators can support companies with an explicit commitment to biodiversity by hosting them in their premises and facilitating matching capital from angel investors, state governments, economic-development coalitions and other investors.
An example of a Biodiversity Incubator is the Incubator for Nature Conservation (INC) that is operated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Venture Capital
Type of equity financing that responds to the need of companies that due to size, assets or stage of development cannot seek capital from more traditional sources, such as public markets and banks. Venture capitalists play a more active role in the companies they invest in, mostly small, early-stage and high-growth companies. They are also ready to face higher risks on a longer investment horizon. Venture capital strategies are suitable for higher-risk developing countries' markets or for targeting business opportunities in new and innovative niches and products. Venture capital has been relatively limited to date for biodiversity businesses.
Conservation International Ventures (CI Ventures) is an investment fund that provides loans to small and medium sized enterprises that operate in the forests, oceans and grasslands where Conservation International works. Read more about CI Ventures here.
Biodiversity Enterprise Funds
Biodiversity Enterprise Funds are highly flexible investment funds that provide debt or equity to companies that sustainably use or protect biodiversity, such as sustainable agriculture and forestry, non-timber forest products, and ecotourism. Funds are structured to cover the typically unmet capital needs (debt, equity, quasi-equity) of a wide range of biodiversity-related businesses. They are for-profit investment vehicles that provide financial returns to their investors.
Aqua-Spark is a global investment fund based in Utrecht, the Netherlands that makes investments in sustainable aquaculture businesses that generate investment returns, while creating positive social and environmental impact. Read more about Aqua-Spark here.
Best Practices and Resources:
Best Practices in Creating a Venture Capital Ecosystem – IDB Group
Best Practices for Business Incubator and Accelerator – UBI Global
Metrics and Milestones for Successful Incubator Development – National Entrepreneurship Network
Investing in Nature: Financing Conservation and Nature-Based Solutions – European Investment Bank
Investing in Conservation: A Landscape Assessment of an Emerging Market – NatureVest, EKO
Examples of Incubators and Venture Capital firms in Conservation Finance:
CFA Incubator – The Conservation Finance Incubator seeks to identify, support and promote innovative ideas and solutions to conservation finance challenges that have significant positive conservation impacts. The CFA targets both conservation finance Ventures and Concepts, and is currently incubating its second cohort.
Okavango Capital Partners - Okavango supports conservation businesses in East and Southern Africa to accheive their full conservation impact and commercial potential. The practice of Conservation-lens investing invovles: (1) Identifying Conservation Businesses that lack the time, expertise or resources to fulfill their conservation potential (2) Providing specialized value-addition to steer them towards maximum profit, enhanced social and environmental impact, and minimum harm for priority ecosystems.
WWF Impact Ventures - Established as an innovative global program in the WWF Network that supports the development of market-based solutions for conservation. The program works across the organization's six major goals (forests, oceans, wildlife, food, climate & energy, and freshwater - and three key drivers of environmental problems - markets, finance and governance). The goal of the program is to generate more resources and improve the state of biodiversity in priority areas through conservation business.
Katapult Ocean - Invests in and support startups that have a positive impact on our ocean.
______________________________________________________________
Private Equity (PE) is another form of private investment that can be described as follows: “the injection of institutional and retail funds targeting investment in privately owned businesses… Private equity seeks to provide growth capital or support buyouts of unlisted entities with a view to securing strong returns on behalf of their investors over a pre-determined (investment) lifetime.” (Adapted from Deloitte, 2017). There are few PE firms focused on nature such as Blue Oceans Partners, which works to invest in sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, renewable energy, and plastic pollution mitigation, but some large investment firms have PE funds targeting different forms of sustainability such as The Rise Fund of TPG. While sharing some similarities to VC, PE typically targets fewer but larger scale and lower risk investments, investing in businesses at a further stage of development compared to a VC. Even for the smallest PE investments, a business typically needs to demonstrate a steady stream of revenue as a pre-requisite for investment.
Venture Capital
Type of equity financing that responds to the need of companies that due to size, assets or stage of development cannot seek capital from more traditional sources, such as public markets and banks. Venture capitalists play a more active role in the companies they invest in, mostly small, early-stage and high-growth companies. They are also ready to face higher risks on a longer investment horizon. Venture capital strategies are suitable for higher-risk developing countries' markets or for targeting business opportunities in new and innovative niches and products. Venture capital has been relatively limited to date for biodiversity businesses.
Conservation International Ventures (CI Ventures) is an investment fund that provides loans to small and medium sized enterprises that operate in the forests, oceans and grasslands where Conservation International works. Read more about CI Ventures here.
Biodiversity Enterprise Funds
Biodiversity Enterprise Funds are highly flexible investment funds that provide debt or equity to companies that sustainably use or protect biodiversity, such as sustainable agriculture and forestry, non-timber forest products, and ecotourism. Funds are structured to cover the typically unmet capital needs (debt, equity, quasi-equity) of a wide range of biodiversity-related businesses. They are for-profit investment vehicles that provide financial returns to their investors.
Aqua-Spark is a global investment fund based in Utrecht, the Netherlands that makes investments in sustainable aquaculture businesses that generate investment returns, while creating positive social and environmental impact. Read more about Aqua-Spark here.
Biodiversity Business Incubator
Business incubators are institutions that provide technical or financial services to strengthen startup and early stage enterprises. Incubators can support companies with an explicit commitment to biodiversity by hosting them in their premises and facilitating matching capital from angel investors, state governments, economic-development coalitions and other investors.
An example of a Biodiversity Incubator is the Incubator for Nature Conservation (INC) that is operated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Best Practices and Resources:
Best practices guide for private equity and venture capital funds – Cuatrecasas, Ascri
Responsible Venture Capital – CDC Group, FMO
______________________________________________________________
These, mostly private, debt-based instruments involve the transfer of capital from one entity to the borrowing party who is then under an obligation to pay the debt back at a later date, usually with interest. This category could also be called “green lending.” Leasing is a finance instrument that allows individuals or companies to acquire equipment or facilities and pay a monthly or annual fee for use or access rather than having to outright purchase the assets. Bank loans are debt provided directly from a bank to an individual or company. Notes refer to a wide range of formal debt instruments where the borrower agrees to pay back the lender (almost always with interest) as documented by a contract (the “Note”). Some Notes can be tradeable and resold while others are restricted. Trade Finance is a multi-instrument set of mechanisms that are designed to facilitate international trade through enhanced financial liquidity and risk management. “Bank-intermediated trade finance (or trade finance, in short) performs two vital roles; providing working capital tied to and in support of international trade transactions, and/or providing means to reduce payment risk.” (Bank for International Settlements, 2014). One example of a trade bank that helps advance investment opportunities for clean energy is the NY state (USA) affiliated NY Green Bank. Many multi-lateral, bi-lateral and national development banks (such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and OPIC use debt-based instruments to support sustainable development and often include conservation goals and environmental and social safeguards in their investments.
Green Banks
State or donor-sponsored financial entity that works in partnership with the private sector to increase investments into green businesses and markets that are underserved by commercial finance. The backing from a Government (or donor) guarantee the Bank can catalyze private investments and introduce new financial products. While the emphasis has traditionally been on renewable energy, the focus of green banks can extend to other environmental areas including conservation and biodiversity.
Green Banks have been increasing the amount of investment that is flowing into conservation and biodiversity. While there are several various examples that exist, capacity building organizations within the green banking space have also become active in recent times. The Green Bank Network is a membership organization formed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among existing Green Banks, enabling them to share best practices and lessons learned.
Conservation Notes
Fixed income product that channels capital to conservation-critical lands and waters. The interest rate can be lower than market rates (i.e. concessional). Examples include property being resold to a government agency, institution, or conservation buyer, with easements or restrictions in place to ensure that the organization's long-term conservation objectives for the project are met.
Credit Suisse joined forces with Althelia Ecosphere in 2014 to launch the Nature Conservation Note, as the first bank to develop a conservation investment product. This 10 million USD initiative aimed to restore a high biodiversity area in the Peruvian Amazon. Read more about the Credit Suisse Conservation note here.
Green Lending
Lending facility by a development or commercial bank or a microfinance institution that positively screens or actively encourages environmentally beneficial loans. The facility or fund may have specific requirements for loan approval or allocation in the form of environmental criteria and assessments. Criteria can include an identified sub-sector (e.g. climate change adaptation) or reference to certain best practices (e.g. via certification of sustainable agricultural/forest management practices).
Microsfere is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the livelihoods of rural people living around areas that are protected for their ecological value in developing countries, and notably in West Africa. Their first two projects are in Ghana, in the Kakum National Park and the Amansuri Wetland. One of the principle measures implemented by Microsfere is Social Microfinance. Read more about Microsfere here.
Mobile Banking
Allows customers to conduct financial transactions using mobile devices. Due to the higher cost of traditional banking (i.e. establishment of physical presence) in developing countries, mobile banking expands financial inclusion among the poor and among populations living in remote locations. Beyond commercial banking services, the same system can be used to pay taxes, receive Government benefits or regulate other payments (e.g. payments for ecosystem services). Associated systems allow for microenterprise loans financing solar panels and other environmentally beneficial investments.
A wide array of banks offer smartphone applications which allow for mobile banking to occur, especially in the developing world. The largest bank in India, the State Bank of India, offers a wide range of online and mobile banking services. To view their website and understand some of the services offered through Mobile Banking, please visit their website here.
Trade Finance
Broadly defined as the set of financial instruments that support foreign trade transactions, trade finance includes letters of credit, factoring, export credit and insurance. The provision of trade finance support is often limited in developing countries due to the lack of service providers or affordable products. Trade finance is particularly needed to support bio trade, i.e. activities related of collection, production, transformation, and commercialization of goods and services derived from native biodiversity under the criteria of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched the BioTrade Facilitation Programme (BTFP) in 2015 with the aim of mainstreaming BioTrade in relevant multilateral, regional and national processes and strengthen the policy and regulatory environment for BioTrade sectors so as to enable key stakeholders (governments, communities and companies) to take advantage of policy options and strategies available for leveraging BioTrade sectors. To achieve this goal, three components were implemented:
a. Mainstreaming BioTrade in sustainable sourcing and use in sustainable development strategies, including in global biodiversity targets
b. Identifying barriers to trade of biodiversity-based products
c. Understanding and mapping policy options on certain aspects of the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing on BioTrade.
Read more about the BioTrade Facilitation Programme here.
______________________________________________________________
This includes all of the main publicly traded debt and equity instruments that are traditionally associated with public capital markets such as stock markets. The most common publicly traded instruments are stocks and bonds which are used to facilitate financing of companies and countries. Publicly traded stocks allow for the ownership of companies by both retail and institutional investors. The stock market allows for easy transfer of ownership, liquidity, through buying and selling shares. Bonds are debt instruments financed through investments (as compared to internal bank finance) and can be traded on capital markets. Green Bonds have raised hundreds of billions USD for the environment and although generally focused on renewable energy investments, increasingly offer opportunities for investments in nature. Blue bonds are a recently emerging niche of Green Bonds with a specific focus on the oceans and aquaculture. In 2016, the Republic of Seychelles, with help from The Nature Conservancy, raised funds for marine conservation totaling $430,000 per year through a Blue Bond. Stock markets are increasingly encouraging their listed companies (companies are listed through public offerings) to report on various sustainability measures and some stock markets are collaborating on improving their impact on sustainable development through efforts such as the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative.
Debt-for-Nature Swaps
Through debt restructuring agreements, governments are able to write off a proportion of their foreign held debt. The savings accrued will be channelled into domestic conservation initiatives and climate adaptation programmes. This often entails the establishment of a Conservation Trust Fund to channel the funds. Debt-for-nature swaps can target both official and commercial lending, with the former being the most common scheme.
As recently as 2016, the Nature Conservancy, through its NatureVest division and Africa program announced the closing of the first debt-for-nature restructuring with the Government of Seychelles and its Paris Club creditors, designed to help the Government re-direct a portion of its debt payments towards marine conservation and climate adaptation. This is the first ever climate adaptation debt restructuring that also includes a strong marine conservation component, using a combination of $15.2 million of impact capital and $5 million of grants to buy back $22 M worth of debt that the Seychelles owed to Paris Club members Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
To learn more about the debt ‘conversion’ of the Seychelles, and the public-private trust fund SeyCCAT that manages the restructured debt, visit here.
Green Bonds
Green bonds can mobilize resources from domestic and international capital markets for climate change adaptation, renewables and other environment-friendly projects. They are no different from conventional bonds, their only unique characteristic being the specified use of proceeds which are invested in projects that generate environmental benefits. In its simplest form, a bond issuer (public or private) will raise a fixed amount of capital, repaying the capital and accrued interests over a set period of time. Sovereign bonds and forest bonds are being issued to finance biodiversity related activities.
The Green Bond market has been mobilizing with increasing intensity since the first Green Bond was issued by the World Bank in 2007. At the end of the fiscal year 2018, there were 91 eligible projects and a total of US$15.4 billion in commitments. Recently, in the summer of 2019, one of the largest green bonds ever was issued by the Dutch government – with a value of roughly US$ 6.8 billion. To read more about this particular bond and the development of the overall Green Bond market, visit here.
Blue Bonds
Green bond financing projects related to the blue economy, i.e. sustainable fishery and conservation of maritime resources.
Important global private investment institutions have shown concrete interest in entering into the Blue Bond space. Morgan Stanley, in early 2019, served as sole underwriter of a blue bond for the World Bank that focused on plastic waste reduction efforts in oceans as well as the promotion of the sustainable use of marine resources in developing countries. To read more about Morgan Stanley and its involvement in Blue Bonds, visit here.
Climate Bonds
Green bond financing projects related to climate adaptation and mitigation, e.g. renewable energy projects.
Climate Bonds Initiative is an international, investor focused not-for-profit that is focused on mobilized the estimated $100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions. To learn more about the Climate Bonds Initiative, please visit here.
Ecosystem Green Bonds
Green bonds linked to self-sustained cash-flow generating initiatives from ecosystem related services.
Forest Bonds
Green bonds financing projects related to sustainable forest management or forest conservations, e.g. investments in sustainable timber production companies. Innovative schemes offer repayment in climate credit offsets.
The International Finance Corporation (A World Bank Group) has issued a Forest Bond in order to support the Kasigau Corridor region in East Kenya, which covers over 200,000 hectares. The proceeds from the bond issued in 2016 were used to support sustainable private sector development in order to provide income for the local community. Read more about the project, which follows the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme in order to offer economic incentives to reduce deforestation and invest in low-carbon growth here.
Islamic Finance
Islamic finance is a unique form of socially responsible investment that abides with the Shari’ah Islamic law, principles and rules. Shari’ah does not permit receipt and payment of "riba" (interest), "gharar" (excessive uncertainty), "maysir" (gambling), short sales or financing activities that it considers harmful to society. Instead, the parties must share the risks and rewards of a business transaction. Islamic finance and particularly green Sukuk are emerging as alternative green finance products.
A finance mechanism that has emerged from the concept of Islamic Finance is the Green Sukuk. The Green Sukuk is a unique example of a Shari’ah compliant impact investing instrument with strong growth prospects to fund environment-friendly endeavors. One of the many examples of Green Sukuks in the Islamic world is the 64$ million Green Sukuk issued by Tadau Energy in Malaysia to finance a 50 MW solar project.To explore other case studies of Green Sukuks, visit here.
______________________________________________________________
This category is cross cutting and can apply to all of the above categories that are essentially financial products. “Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing” or “SRI” (USSIF, Accessed January 10th, 2020) is a long-term oriented investment approach which integrates ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors in the research, analysis and selection process of securities within an investment portfolio. It combines fundamental analysis and engagement with an evaluation of ESG factors in order to better capture long term returns for investors, and to benefit society by influencing the behaviour of companies.” – (Eurosif, 2018). For publicly traded instruments, it is based on different rating and screening approaches that either target investments in companies seeking to produce positive outcomes or exclude companies that are not showing commitment to environmental, social or governance issues (ESG) by their management. According to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, global assets under management with some SRI focus are estimated at well over 30 trillion USD (Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, 2018).
Impact Investing is a growing segment of private investing that is defined as, “investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable. social and environmental impact alongside a financial return” (www.thegiin.org).
Another form of sustainable investment strategy in capital markets is through shareholder activism where the owners of the companies’ shares seek to positively influence corporate behavior through shareholder resolutions and other forms of communication possible under the rules and regulations of publicly traded companies.
The following strategies are included as means to achieve SRI in debt and equity capital markets as cited by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance:
1. Negative screening excludes certain companies from an investment e.g. building a deforestation-free or palm-oil-free portfolio
2. Best-in-class (or positive) screening selects companies based on their performance, highlighting positive examples of biodiversity friendly products and socially responsible practices
3. Norms-based screening excludes companies from an investment if they fail to meet internationally accepted norms such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights
4. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration focuses on the assessment of the structural integration of ESG factors into investment decision making
5. Sustainability themed investing has a broad meaning and includes financial products such as green and blue bonds and sukuk[1] and more recently sustainability bonds
6. Impact investing includes an explicit intention to produce a positive impact, that requires impacts to be measured and reported against the intended targets
7. Corporate engagement and shareholder action aims to push corporations to address environmental and social issues by exercising shareholder rights.
Some examples of financial institutions that provide investors with the means to make sustainable or impactful investments is Green Century Funds or Calvert Investments, which also offer investment products such as environmentally focused mutual funds.
Islamic Finance
Islamic finance is a unique form of socially responsible investment that abides with the Shari’ah Islamic law, principles and rules. Shari’ah does not permit receipt and payment of "riba" (interest), "gharar" (excessive uncertainty), "maysir" (gambling), short sales or financing activities that it considers harmful to society. Instead, the parties must share the risks and rewards of a business transaction. Islamic finance and particularly green Sukuk are emerging as alternative green finance products.
A finance mechanism that has emerged from the concept of Islamic Finance is the Green Sukuk. The Green Sukuk is a unique example of a Shari’ah compliant impact investing instrument with strong growth prospects to fund environment-friendly endeavors. One of the many examples of Green Sukuks in the Islamic world is the 64$ million Green Sukuk issued by Tadau Energy in Malaysia to finance a 50 MW solar project. To explore other case studies of Green Sukuks, visit here.
Impact Investing
Investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investors invest in innovative but commercially viable business in sectors like sustainable agriculture, affordable housing, affordable and accessible healthcare, clean technology, and financial services for the poor. Along with health and inclusive finance, the protection of the environment is a core area of impact investment.
The eco.business Fund aims to promote business and consumption practices that contribute to biodiversity conservation, to the sustainable use of natural resources and to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts in Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. To learn more about the eco.business Fund, visit their website here.
Lower cost of capital for conservation investments
Identify and model policy interventions that can lower the barriers that hold back private investment in biodiversity-friendly sectors. The aim is to lower the capital costs of investment and achieve a better risk-return profile for investors and for companies receiving financing. The analytical framework and model developed for renewable energy may be adapted to conservation investments.
Sustainability Standards: Finance Sector
Voluntary, usually third party-assessed, norms and standards relating to environmental, social, ethical issues, adopted by financial companies and institutions to demonstrate their performance or the sustainability of their products .
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) works with financial institutions to introduce environmental, social, and governance standards, as well as risk management to their lending practices. The ICF also works to promote stability of financial systems in developing countries, and channel finance to responsible companies. Learn more about the work of the IFC to promote sustainability standards here.
Sovereign Wealth Funds
State owned investment funds capitalized from balance of payments surpluses, foreign currency operations, royalties on extractive industries and other transfers and economic rent. Available resources are generally invested in capital and equity markets often through intermediaries to achieve returns. These returns are either re-invested or distributed to the Government or other recipient entities. Their investment policies can be oriented towards sustainable standards and practices-for example by investing a percentage of the capital in green bonds or impact investing. Similarly, the distribution of annual transfers may be earmarked to the environmental-particularly if the sovereign fund is capitalized from natural resource royalties.
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are slow to embrace sustainable investments – as of 2018, the total value of green investments by SWFs has risen to USD11 billion, approximately 0.15% of the total assets of the SWF industry (source). However, Norway’s $1tn SWF, as of March 2019, has begun the process of divesting from oil and gas companies in an effort to reduce the dependence of Norway on an industry that is facing growing questions about its long-term future. Read more about the divestment out of oil and gas by the Norway SWF here.
State owned investment funds capitalized from royalties on oil and gas. Available resources are invested in capital and equity markets to achieve returns. These returns are either re-invested or distributed to the Government or other recipient entities. Their investment policies can be oriented towards sustainable standards and practices-for example by investing a percentage of the capital in green bonds or impact investing. Similarly, the distribution of annual transfers may be earmarked to the environment and climate change-particularly due to the fact of the negative impact of oil and gas on the environment and climate.